Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does.
Author's Note:
Please follow, favorite, and review!
First Person POV: Astrid
I pulled a fast right hook at Jane. She dodged but I crouched swiftly and swept my leg under her, knocking her down onto the mat. She jumped back onto her feet gracefully.
"Good!" Jane cheered but quickly returned to her default composed expression.
"At human speed that attack would have succeeded. You're a natural." She told me.
I smiled, Jane had been genuinely happy for me, maybe I would break through her walls after all.
"That's the end of our time this morning. And it sounds like Demetri has just arrived." Jane told me.
Demetri entered the gym at that moment. He flashed over to where I stood, and Jane returned to stand guard by the door.
As of this morning, I had twice as many guards with me because the rest of the Spanish coven had arrived late last night. Luckily, however, they had all taken positions against the walls of the gym to give me space while I trained.
"Are you ready to get started?" Demetri asked me.
"Definitely!" I replied. I was feeling pumped to try out my gift again after the progress we made last practice.
"So yesterday you were able to teleport with a little incentive, but we figured out that you need to focus on your intended destination to actually move. So, let's try it again today except this time I won't be charging at you, I promise." he told me with a good-natured smile.
"Go ahead and stand on this mat." He instructed. "I'm going to place a second mat in front of you and I want you to try to teleport to somewhere within the second mat." He placed another mat a couple of feet in front of the one I was standing on.
"Whenever you're ready." He said, stepping away.
I took a breath to gather myself. I closed my eyes, calling on my fear. I felt time slow and adrenaline rush through my veins. I pictured the center of the mat in front of me and willed myself there.
I heard Demetri clapping and opened my eyes. I was on the second mat! I hadn't landed right in the center as I had intended, but it was still a good start.
"I can't believe I did it! And without help this time!" I chirped happily.
"You sure did, you seem to have excellent control of your gift already." He encouraged me.
We spent the next hour testing out my accuracy and range. Demetri folded the second mat gradually, making smaller and smaller targets. As I got the hang of my accuracy, Demetri started moving the mat to different positions in the radius around me, and then finally moving it increasingly farther away with each successful attempt.
Just as we finished running the last drill, I heard a slow clap coming from the door and spun around to see who it was.
A middle-aged woman of average height and weight, with pale olive skin and shoulder-length, curly dark brown hair approached, followed by a tall, modelesque young woman with a similar skin tone and long, straight dark brown hair. I knew by their red eyes that they were vampires.
My guards left their positions to stand defensively around me as the unfamiliar pair of vampires approached. However, my guards' proximity didn't seem to deter the woman as she stopped directly in front of me with the young woman in tail.
"Ma'am, I will have to ask that you return to the main wing or your assigned guest quarters. The training room is currently reserved for the queen's training." Demetri informed them, standing protectively by my side.
If these vampires were guests, then I figured they must be members of the Spanish coven.
"Now, now, it looks like her training has just ended. Plus, we were curious to see Aro's mate in action. Figures that he would have such a talented mate, what with him collecting gifted guards and all." She responded flippantly and then focused her attention on me.
"It's so nice to meet you Astrid, my name is Catalina. My husband, Mateo, is the leader of the Spanish coven." She told me.
"It's nice to meet you too." I responded politely.
"This is Isabel." The woman told me while not so subtly pushing the young woman towards me. "She's only a decade into her immortal life so I'm sure the two of you will have tons in common."
Isabel gave me a small smile and nod in greeting, and I returned the gesture.
"Well then, I'll just head back to my guest quarters. Isabel, please be a dear and escort Astrid back to her chambers." she told the young woman and sauntered out of the gym.
Well, that was an interesting exchange… I thought. I wasn't usually one to judge others harshly, but waltzing into my practice, dismissing Demetri, and clearly pushing the young woman, Isabel, on me had rubbed me the wrong way. At least Isabel seemed less pretentious than Catalina so far.
I looked at Isabel and she motioned towards the door.
"Shall we?" She asked and I nodded.
I remembered Aro asking me to be cautious of the Spanish coven members, but I figured that chatting with Isabel on the way back to my room was harmless. Plus, she seemed more reserved than her coven mates - at least the ones I'd met so far.
I waved goodbye to Demetri as I left the gym with Isabel. My guards followed, arranging themselves in a defensive formation around us.
We walked in silence for a while, so I attempted to start a conversation.
"Catalina seems interesting…" I said and internally smacked my forehead. Of course, that was the best conversation starter I could think of. I just hoped I hadn't offended her already.
Surprisingly though, Isabel laughed.
"Yeah, that's one word for it. Don't worry though, she's not always that extra." She told me.
I giggled; her casual attitude was refreshing. With the ice broken, we chatted the rest of the way to my room.
When she dropped me off at my door, I noticed her peering at my neck.
"Are you hungry?" I asked her automatically, suddenly feeling very exposed with my hair tied up. I felt my guards move closer around us in reaction to my question.
"No! Sorry, that's not it at all." She quickly responded, glancing behind me at my guards. I waited for her to continue.
"I just… I realized that you haven't been marked yet, but it's none of my business. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." She told me.
"Marked?" I asked.
"By Aro, I mean." She said, and I stared at her blankly.
"Has Aro never mentioned marking before?" she asked, sounding confused.
"Nope. What's marking?" I asked, hoping that she would elaborate.
"Oh, uh… I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have mentioned it." she said, backpedaling.
I gave her an annoyed look, was she really going to bring up the topic and then refuse to explain it to me?
"Look Astrid, it's an… intimate topic. It would be best if Aro explained it to you." she said, looking embarrassed. I sighed and decided to drop it, Isabel was clearly uncomfortable. I would ask Aro about it later like she suggested.
"Well, I should really get going now. It was nice to meet you, Astrid." Isabel told me.
"Like wise." I replied and she flashed off in the direction of the main wing.
Instead of entering my room, I walked over to Aro's office and knocked on the door. My guards immediately opened the door for me. Aro sat at his desk with his fingers flashing across the keyboard, but he stopped and looked up when I entered.
"How nice to see you, cara mia." he said.
"Hi Aro" I replied.
"Not that I don't enjoy spontaneous visits, but is there anything you need from me?" He asked.
I thought of my conversation with Isabel but remembered that I had a few things other things to discuss with him first.
"I wanted to let you know that I met some members of the Spanish coven this morning." I said.
"I see, I had hoped to introduce you to them myself, but it seems they beat me to it." He told me.
I walked around his desk and sat on his lap. I nuzzled my face against his neck and took in his scent, rich like chocolate and red wine. He absorbed my memories through our connected skin.
"Piccola, I need you to remember that during this visit, if you're ever separated from your guards…" Aro started to tell me, and I quickly recited the rest of his statement.
"I will immediately find you or another family member. I know Aro…" I said and he sighed.
"I'm sorry, amore mio, you know how I worry about you..." He told me with concern in his ruby eyes. "Now that your gift is coming along so well, you should remember to use it in case of an emergency. But please don't overdo the distance, I know how it strains you. If you can get near any of our guards, they will protect you with their lives." he told me.
The first few times I teleported, I had crossed long distances and suffered the consequences of it. However, now that I was able to practice with smaller distances, I was sure that I could gradually increase my reach without straining myself.
I knew the Volturi guards were sworn to protect the royal family with their lives, however, the idea of any of my guards dying to protect me was upsetting. I had grown attached to many of them already and would be inconsolable if they ever sacrificed themselves for me.
"I'm pleased that you've been bonding with your guards. I can assure you that your feelings of attachment are mutual." Aro told me with a warm smile. He leaned back in his desk chair, still cradling me on his lap and I relaxed against him.
However, my thoughts turned to an approaching event that I had been avoiding dealing with.
I'm expected to fly home to the US tomorrow… I thought to Aro.
"Yes, of course. I believe the best course of action, at least for now, would be to contact your parents and inform them that you are extending your vacation in Italy. You still have a few more weeks before you are scheduled to start at university, so the excuse will suffice until we are able to make formal plans."
Aro handed me a thin silver laptop to contact my parents with. I sent them a message in our group chat that I needed to talk to them. I was hoping that it would take them a while to respond but, unfortunately, they replied immediately and asked me if I was available to video chat. I slipped off Aro's lap with the laptop and moved into the sitting room portion of his office. I picked out a spot on the couch with bookshelves behind it. Hopefully the background of my call would appear similar to a library in case my parents got suspicious.
I accepted my mom's call when it popped up on the screen and put on a fake smile as my parents came into view. I tried to keep my voice steady as I explained to them that I would be staying in Italy for a few more weeks. I could tell they were disappointed, but my mom told me she was happy I was enjoying myself and my dad reminded me to keep in touch, it had been a week since I contacted them last. We exchanged I miss you's and I love you's and then I ended the call.
I closed the laptop and set it on the table in front of the couch. I covered my eyes with my palms and fought against the tears that threatened to spill. The call had been much more difficult than I had anticipated. I had grown up being taught never to lie, especially to those you love, and it broke my heart to look my parents in the eyes and go against that principle intentionally. I knew that it would only hurt them more when I didn't return home in time for my first semester of college.
Aro approached and pulled me onto his lap as he sat down on the couch next to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and cried on his shoulder. He purred deeply to calm me down and I gradually relaxed.
Eventually, once I had fully recovered from the call, my thoughts wandered back to my conversation with Isabel.
"Aro?" I prompted.
"Yes, angelo mio, we do not need to have that discussion right now. I have not broached the subject yet because I didn't wish to frighten you..." He continued gently.
"It's okay Aro, I want to know." I told him; I was curious and didn't want to wait for answers.
Aro gazed into my eyes searchingly for a moment, before explaining.
"Vampires feel an undeniable instinct to mark their mate by biting them, generally on the neck, when they consummate their bond. The mating bite injects a vampire's venom into their mate's body and therefore permanently combines their scents. Due to the lingering scent of their mate's venom and the visible scar from the bite, all other vampires know that they are unavailable and, if they recognize the scent, who has claimed them."
Suddenly the room felt very warm. I would never admit it out loud, but the idea of the marking really turned me on. It was primal, animalistic. I could feel myself growing aroused at the thought of Aro sinking his teeth into my neck… claiming me as his mate.
"This excites you?" Aro asked, eyes darkening rapidly as he watched my imagination roam wild. "I am able to mark you while you are human, but I would use less venom so that I don't initiate your change until you're ready. I would re-mark you with more venom once you are turned, of course, and you could mark me too."
My physical relationship with Aro was still progressing, but consummating our bond and being marked was something to look forward to. Maybe even soon…?
Instead of responding aloud, I kissed him forcefully.